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Professor Selected as Temple Research Fellow

Posted on July 2, 2018 at 2:14 PM, updated July 2, 2018 at 2:14 PM Print

Megan E. Hatch will study impact of U.S. eviction laws

Megan E. Hatch, an assistant professor of urban studies in the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, has been selected as the inaugural research fellow of Temple University’s Center for Public Health Law Research (CPHLR). In that role she will create a database of eviction laws in 40 of the largest U.S. cities to better assess the impact of these policies on communities, families and overall public and economic health.

“To improve housing policy in the U.S. we first need a better understanding of the legal and policy frameworks that exist in municipalities across the country,” Hatch says. “I am honored to be able to work with the Center for Public Health Law Research to create the data sets necessary to accomplish this goal and ultimately inform public policies to improve housing for families and communities across the nation.”

Hatch has conducted multiple research projects designed to better assess and improve policies aimed at renters and their relationship with landlords. These include landlord-tenant laws, source of income discrimination, and criminal activity nuisance ordinances. Her work with Temple builds on research funded by CSU’s Levin Women's Fund.

The Center for Public Health Law Research supports the widespread adoption of scientific tools and methods for mapping and evaluating the impact of law on health. It seeks to develop and teach public health law research and legal epidemiology methods, expand the development of policies that increase access to health care and reduce inequity and communicate and disseminate evidence to facilitate innovation. CPHLR Research Fellows collaborate with the Center's staff on research projects and grants to further the field of legal epidemiology.